11 November 2024

Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc

("Oxford Nanopore" or the "Company")

Oxford Nanopore announces changes to the senior leadership team

Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc (LSE: ONT), the company delivering a new generation of nanopore-based molecular sensing technology, today announces that Rosemary Sinclair Dokos has been appointed as Chief Product and Marketing Officer and Dr Lakmal Jayasinghe has been appointed as Chief Scientific Officer, effective immediately. Rosemary and Lakmal, who will report to Chief Executive Officer Dr Gordon Sanghera, succeed Clive Brown, Chief Officer of Technology, Innovation, and Products, who has stepped down to pursue new projects. Clive will be available to the business on an advisory basis to support an effective transition.

Rosemary has more than 18 years' experience in innovation, including product management and commercial functions. She joined Oxford Nanopore in 2014 and has been a pivotal force in driving the Company's product strategy and execution, overseeing the development of Oxford Nanopore's platform technologies, including the recent PromethION 2 and GridION Q-Line launches. In her new role, Rosemary will continue leading the development of products that include new multiomic, clinical, biopharma and industrial applications, in addition to platform technology innovations and marketing.  

Lakmal is a highly respected, world-leading nanopore and protein sensing scientist and scientific leader, with more than 18 years' experience. He joined Oxford Nanopore in 2007 and has been responsible for all biological research and development projects at Oxford Nanopore. Lakmal will continue to lead efforts to integrate new multiomic capabilities, including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics, into the Company's platform.

Dr Gordon Sanghera, Chief Executive Officer of Oxford Nanopore, commented:

"Rosemary and Lakmal have played an integral role in the research, development and execution of our technology vision for many years. They bring extensive skills in innovation and product development, and the leadership of highly skilled technical teams. These span the most cutting-edge innovation to the deployment of mature products destined for regulated markets - critical to creating stakeholder value. Their knowledge, perspective and vision will advance our innovation leadership and fuel the continuation of our growth journey.

"I would like to thank Clive for his profound contributions to the development of the technology and the growth of the business over the past 16 years. He established the Company's distinct vision of distributed, accessible sequencing and fostered a culture of cutting-edge innovation and relentless pursuit of pushing technological boundaries, which has shaped Oxford Nanopore into the innovative force it is today. We continue to deliver against this vision and will carry forward his drive to deploy big ideas and solve big problems."

Clive Brown, former Chief Officer of Technology, Innovation, and Products at Oxford Nanopore, commented:

"It has been a privilege to work alongside Gordon, Spike and the leadership team and I am proud of all that we have achieved over the last 16 years. Given our progress, I am now pursuing my next professional challenge. Rosemary's focus on transformative product experiences and Lakmal's pioneering work in multiomics put the Company in a strong position for the next phase of its development. I would particularly like to thank the user community, who continue to work so hard to help us improve and innovate the technology to enable them to perform breakthrough science. I remain a dedicated shareholder and look forward to seeing the Company continue to go from strength to strength."

-ENDS-

For further information, please contact:

Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc

Investors:         ir@nanoporetech.com

Media:              media@nanoporetech.com

Teneo (communications adviser to the Company)

Tom Murray, Olivia Peters

+44 (0) 20 7353 4200

OxfordNanoporeTechnologies@teneo.com

About Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc:

Oxford Nanopore Technologies' goal is to bring the widest benefits to society through enabling the analysis of anything, by anyone, anywhere. The Group has developed a new generation of nanopore-based sensing technology that is currently used for real-time, high-performance, accessible, and scalable analysis of DNA and RNA. The technology is used in more than 125 countries, to understand the biology of humans, plants, animals, bacteria, viruses and environments as well as to understand diseases such as cancer.  Oxford Nanopore's technology also has the potential to provide broad, high impact, rapid insights in a number of areas including healthcare, food and agriculture. For more information please visit: www.nanoporetech.com